Jun 12, 2013 - Gastronomical Blog

Hi All, I must admit to tiring somewhat now ,after 6 weeks solid travel,sights,fun etc ...now on to Italy! However a recap of the gastronomical highlights for us of Morrocco and Spain first. Morrocco: Freshly squeezed orange juice- large glasses 4 Dirhams=45cents Nous nous :fabulous strong expresso coffee with a dash of milk ,10 to 12 Dirhams=$1.20 to $1.50 Olives :all Fantastic but especially Black ones Bread rolls - round,thin,very crusty and light (French baguette influence) 1 dirham=12 cents Sardines -Essouira on coast Mint tea,locally...

Jun 11, 2013 - Perversity comes in many forms

Dave Warner in 'Worst Day' tells the story of the worst day in his life when his girlfriend ran off with his best mate. He describes it as having his balls ("these balls!") slashed with a knife and compares it to Picasso watching his paintings destroyed- '"compared to me he's only mildly annoyed." I start here because this competes my bookend analysis of the contemporary Spanish masters, it includes specific body parts being perversely represented for 'art', involves covert sexual conflict and I like every opportunity to quote Perth's own...

Jun 11, 2013 - Beautiful Barcelona

I haven't been to all the cities in the world,..far from it..but I think Barcelona would have to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The people are smiling, friendly and helpful, the food is excellent and the architecture, art and culture are just wonderful. There is a sophisticated yet easy-going feel to the city. Antoni Gaudi's buildings, one of my main reasons for coming here, are incredible; the man was brilliant,100 years ahead of his time. How a humble, religious and seemingly conservative man could conceive the avant...

Jun 10, 2013 - Demonstrate/ remonstrate

A quick comment. Out with Canadians again last night. More Sangria, but with mains not tapas for a change. Deb to follow with a gastronomic blog. Stumbled across another demonstration in the parliament square. Houses for Catalonia and Barcelona face off in the square. Police kitted in full riot gear also faced off against demonstrators throughout square, spreading into feeder streets. Approached a Commissioned officer for his views: 'this not about independence' this comment seemed to reduce the legitimacy of the event. 'Demonstrators are...

Jun 9, 2013 - Bartholona Joy

'Ola from Barcelona! OMG! I love Barcelona! My new Best & Most Favourite city in the world! I have died and gone to heaven, again : On 2 levels: our new Hotel and Gaudi. Firstly We finished our Intrepid tour ( very full-on 2 weeks with lots of travelling and sights) on Friday night with a dinner on the Seafront with "Happy Jose" our tour guide. Kev then vomited half the night with food poisoning from a dodgy sardine, and was a bit subdued yesterday( maintaining his well established pattern of getting sick in every country!Haha!). In spite...

Jun 7, 2013 - Spain is a funny place......

Hola' Spain feels familiar, like London, for its drink, food, European heritage, government structures, streetscapes and customs. It is also quite different, like Marrakech, under the very same categories but including language and poverty. I have just come back from a visit to The Picasso Museum, more of that later. Deb is at the Gaudi gardens. Walking back, frequently lost in the little streets and sea of humanity, I was struck by the Spanish "contradiction". The best symbol of this was the amount of dried hams in shop front windows and...

May 28, 2013 - Barcelona

Hola! Barcelona is an outstanding city - 5 days is not enough!! The train ride from Avignon was long, with three train changes, a long delay and borderline wrestling/boxing required at one station to obtain new seats for the replacement train. The French do not handle delays well, and there was more pressure in the line for tickets than was really required for the situation. K sat out the battle and steady as she goes but hip and shoulder ready Philly got the job done efficiently and we left the scrap behind. On arrival in Barcelona we...

May 28, 2013 - Barcelona

Today was free time until the evening. We took the subway to Park Guell. Luckily we got at the subway stop that allowed us easier access to the very steep hill. It is a park designed by Gaudi, and is almost fairytale-like. We spent some time wandering. After having had enough of that, we needed to choose between the Picasso Museum, and the Palau Música Catalana. We chose the Palau and are very glad we did. It is a concert hall that was designed in the Modernista style and was built just over 100 years ago, for a choral society. Today it...

May 27, 2013 - Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona and after arriving at our hotel, made our way to a nearby restaurant for another delicious lunch. Someone told me that you wouldn’t come to Spain for the food, but that has not been our experience at all. We are enjoying the variety of foods immensely. Our guide for a walk around the city centre, Roger, met us and we set off to look at some of the famous modernist architecture that is so typical of Barcelona. Buildings of this style were built between about 1880 and 1920. Some of them, most notably Gaudi, were very...

May 24, 2013 - Flavors of Spain

Remember our motto: Never save the best for last, do everything you really want to do first? Well, we kind of rebelled against that motto, ha! Today, Kayley and I got up early and set out to climb Mt. Tibidabo, where a Neo-Gothic church sits atop Barcelona’s highest peak. We took the metro to ridge of the peak and then walked along a beautiful path looking out at the city and water. This was a popular exercise path as runners, walkers, and bikers were numerous. The hike was beautiful and was actually the best part of the journey. The only...

May 23, 2013 - Hallelujah

Today, was a beautiful day! SUNNY- hallelujah! Kayley and I headed straight for the beach. The beach in Barcelona is man-made, I believe it was made for the Olympics. We found a spot on the sand and laid out our towels, ready for our mid-morning nap…within 30 seconds we had a person ask us if we wanted to buy a drink. We said, “no” and laid back down but within seconds another person approached us; think Mexico, only worse! Kayley and I would close our eyes when a person would approach and pretend to be asleep and most the time, that would...

May 21, 2013 - Watch out for the hangin' hoofs...

Today, was a blast! We jumped onto the bus and headed for the harbor where we walked around the water front and looked at all the sailboats. We then walked down La Rambla (a famous street with tons of things to see and do) to La Boqueria which was a HUGE market. It was filled with fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts, olives, cheese, meats, sea food, tapas, smoothies, and a bunch of weird things...like brains and such. Kayley and I walked around the market for hours looking at all the booths and trying different things for our lunch. I got a...